Local restaurant inspections may soon be available online

Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 11:17 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 11:17 a.m.

HOUMA — If you’ve gone to a restaurant before and wanted to know how clean it is, you will soon be able to find out more easily when the state makes a switch from paper health-code reports to an online service available to the public.

Carolyn Picard Bombet, the state’s retail food program administrator for the Center for Environmental Health Services, said the changeover to a computer-based system that provides the public with instant access to health inspections is months, not years away.

Health departments in Georia and California and many other states post restaurant inspections online, however, inspection officials admit that it’s not as easy in Louisiana.

If a resident wants to check out an inspection they must request to view it at their parish’s health unit.

According to Terrebonne’s sanitarian parish manager, Kevin Hewitt, local inspections were available online for a little while, until a cut in funding eliminated them.

“It’s public record, so anyone who wants to see it can come down to our location at 600 Polk Street and check it out,” he said.

When asked how many people stop in to view these reports reguarly, Hewitt said, “not many.”

“I’ve been told that they’re working hard to get these inspections back online soon,” he said. “It will be a great tool for the public to see what’s going on at the restaurants they like to eat at or are thinking about eating at.”

Having worked at the health unit for more than 20 years, Hewitt has held many job titles, including health inspector.

What used to consist of going to a location with a paper form has transformed into something more sophisticated, he said.

“Our inspectors actually carry a hand-held device with them,” Hewitt said. “When they get back from their inspections, they download the information and ship it off to Baton Rouge, where it goes into a database.”

Currently, the Department of Health and Human Services’ website for Louisiana says there are 31,975 food establishments that have permits.

Hewitt said inspectors are constantly visiting local restaurants looking for violations.

He added that if they find something wrong, they issue the offender a notice of violation.

“The first time we go during the year it’s always a surprise,” Hewitt said. “If we find a problem, we give them a little time to correct it and tell them when we’re coming back. More times than not they correct things by the time we return.”

In a January article that appeared in USA Today, Robert Pestronk, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said there’s been a big push for health departments to put information online in an effort to be more transparent.

Bombet said she’s all for making health inspections more user-friendly.

“The biggest part I appreciate is the public gets a chance to see our presence (through online access),” she said. “What a lot of people don’t understand is we’re constantly looking out for their best interests. Having a safe food supply is of the utmost importance to our agency.”

Hewitt said he loves the idea of placing inspections online. His only hope is users have access to a more thorough notes section.

“Before you could only see the grade, which was a pelican system that went from zero to five pelicans,” Hewitt said. “Hopefully, whatever they put online this time will give the general public a little more than just a grade.”

For information, visit www.dhh.louisiana.gov or call 857-3601.

Staff Writer Thad Angelloz can be reached at 857-2207 or at thad.angelloz@houmatoday.com.

<p>HOUMA — If you've gone to a restaurant before and wanted to know how clean it is, you will soon be able to find out more easily when the state makes a switch from paper health-code reports to an online service available to the public.</p><p>Carolyn Picard Bombet, the state's retail food program administrator for the Center for Environmental Health Services, said the changeover to a computer-based system that provides the public with instant access to health inspections is months, not years away.</p><p>Health departments in Georia and California and many other states post restaurant inspections online, however, inspection officials admit that it's not as easy in Louisiana.</p><p>If a resident wants to check out an inspection they must request to view it at their parish's health unit.</p><p>According to Terrebonne's sanitarian parish manager, Kevin Hewitt, local inspections were available online for a little while, until a cut in funding eliminated them.</p><p>“It's public record, so anyone who wants to see it can come down to our location at 600 Polk Street and check it out,” he said.</p><p>When asked how many people stop in to view these reports reguarly, Hewitt said, “not many.”</p><p>“I've been told that they're working hard to get these inspections back online soon,” he said. “It will be a great tool for the public to see what's going on at the restaurants they like to eat at or are thinking about eating at.”</p><p>Having worked at the health unit for more than 20 years, Hewitt has held many job titles, including health inspector.</p><p>What used to consist of going to a location with a paper form has transformed into something more sophisticated, he said.</p><p>“Our inspectors actually carry a hand-held device with them,” Hewitt said. “When they get back from their inspections, they download the information and ship it off to Baton Rouge, where it goes into a database.”</p><p>Currently, the Department of Health and Human Services' website for Louisiana says there are 31,975 food establishments that have permits.</p><p>Hewitt said inspectors are constantly visiting local restaurants looking for violations.</p><p>He added that if they find something wrong, they issue the offender a notice of violation.</p><p>“The first time we go during the year it's always a surprise,” Hewitt said. “If we find a problem, we give them a little time to correct it and tell them when we're coming back. More times than not they correct things by the time we return.”</p><p>In a January article that appeared in USA Today, Robert Pestronk, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials, said there's been a big push for health departments to put information online in an effort to be more transparent.</p><p>Bombet said she's all for making health inspections more user-friendly.</p><p>“The biggest part I appreciate is the public gets a chance to see our presence (through online access),” she said. “What a lot of people don't understand is we're constantly looking out for their best interests. Having a safe food supply is of the utmost importance to our agency.”</p><p>Hewitt said he loves the idea of placing inspections online. His only hope is users have access to a more thorough notes section.</p><p>“Before you could only see the grade, which was a pelican system that went from zero to five pelicans,” Hewitt said. “Hopefully, whatever they put online this time will give the general public a little more than just a grade.” </p><p>For information, visit www.dhh.louisiana.gov or call 857-3601.</p><p> </p><p>Staff Writer Thad Angelloz can be reached at 857-2207 or at thad.angelloz@houmatoday.com.</p>